India's VL-SRSAM Missile Triumph: DRDO and Navy Achieve Key Test Success

The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy on Thursday successfully flight tested vertical launch short range surface-to-air missile from Chandipur, off Odisha coast, defence officials said here. The test was conducted around 3 pm from the integrated test range in Chandipur, they said. The flight test was carried out from a land-based vertical launcher, aiming at a high-speed aerial target flying at a low altitude. 

The missile system successfully "tracked and engaged the target", they said. The flight test aimed at validating multiple updated elements of the weapon system, the defence officials said. The performance of the system was "meticulously tracked and confirmed by various instruments" such as telemetry deployed at ITR Chandipur. 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh praised the teams from DRDO and the Indian Navy for their achievement, stating that this test reaffirms the reliability and effectiveness of the VL-SRSAM weapon system. DRDO Chairman Dr Samir V Kamat congratulated the teams and said that the system will significantly enhance the operational capabilities of the Indian Navy and serve as a force multiplier. Before the test, around 3,100 people residing within a radius of 2.5 kilometres of the launch pad were shifted to temporary shelters, a Balasore district official said. The district administration also informed these people that they would need to be shifted again to temporary camps on Friday. 

The people have been requested to start shifting from 5 am to temporary shelters and return to their respective villages after the administration gives them a green signal, the revenue officer. These are the measures taken in consultation with the ITR authority at Chandipur for safety, he added.